The Pelicans' situation has been unstable ever since the franchise relocated from Charlotte in 2002, and especially since Katrina. This excruciating state of limbo unfortunately defines the Pelicans. It's difficult to say where they belong.

You get the sense Ralph Sampson, if he had been designed by NASA engineers rather than a cruel god, still would have ended up as one of the great Yeah, But guys of his generation: an immensely gifted, lightly snakebitten antecedent to Vince Carter and Chris Webber.

I think you underestimate how much harder it is to score in paint at NBA level compared to SL. Nothing is easy. His slow and deliberate post moves will get eaten alive at next level, and nobody has patience to set them up anymore anyway. To score he is going to have to learn to roll, catch and finish quickly. And why can’t he? Seems easier than a sky hook anyway.

To the point that he only needs to be good enough to be 15th man.....if that is true.....then who cares anyway? We want the next Rudy Gobert .... not the next Kosta Koufos....I mean come on.....there is more to this than just getting free Tacos because he barely squeaks onto roster.

He'll have a tougher time getting baskets, as NBA defenders will contest or foul him more than he got in SL. With his poor free throw shooting, an opposing coach will tell guys to foul rather than give up a dunk, and try to grab his arms. I would throw him in early in a quarter and go right to him with a few lobs. He's either going to dunk it or get fouled. Getting fouled early in the 2nd and 4th quarters will help with putting our starters at the line later in the quarter.

So, if anything, he'll be a great lob/dunk opportunity, or a put the other team in foul trouble quickly strategy.

Roland2000 wrote:The guy has so much potential. I am truly shocked that this is even a discussion. At the very least, develop him, pump up his value and use him to get an even better player.

I think they underestimated him and, while doing so, really filled in their big man spots with other good candidates like Kanter and Poirier. They also have Time Lord. So, at the moment, they are loaded. Time Lord better figure out how to be a power forward real quick. Otherwise, he's not getting much playing time at all. They have Theis too....who has to try power forward....

Anyway, I think Tacko will keep improving. He's just at the beginning of his development.

As someone who liked Fall coming into the draft the elevated expectations are getting ridiculous. He played four years of college basketball and while he was a good player he made 3rd team all conference as a senior in the American Athletic Conference that had zero players drafted into the NBA.

He is interesting guy as a situational player and a fun story but let get serious here.

You are aware that just because you say something like it's true that doesn't make it true, right?

He ran Horford out of town playing him at center. He seemed to refuse to want to win anyway but his way. I think he just refused to use Baynes and Horford together last year but they nearly got us to the finals the year before with couple young pups.He abused Horford. He would not even give Williams development minutes. He could not get bigs in college and he not has a huge grudge against bigs.imho

You are aware that just because you say something like it's true that doesn't make it true, right?

He ran Horford out of town playing him at center. He seemed to refuse to want to win anyway but his way. I think he just refused to use Baynes and Horford together last year but they nearly got us to the finals the year before with couple young pups.He abused Horford. He would not even give Williams development minutes. He could not get bigs in college and he not has a huge grudge against bigs.imho

This guy definitely is moving and built better than the majority of previous 7'-6" players. Still shaking my head that a guy of his proportions, moving like he can...Was UNDRAFTED! Unbelievable. Thank goodness someone on the Celts had the presence of mind to pick this guy up.

He's worth every bit of time taken to train him and see what his potential truly is. There's nothing at all to loose.

When you look at Eaton, Bradley, Muresan, Boban, Rik Smits, Manute...they were all slower than Tacko.

Yao was a great player at the NBA level--an AS all 8 years he played--but part of his game wasn't all that different in style from what we saw of Tacko at SL. Blocks with a lot of catch-and-dunks at the basket. In fact, if Tacko can develop enough to get some playing time, his production in terms of rebounds, blocks and dunks may not be that far from Yao's, for the time he is out there. It is the midrange and FT shooting (a career .833 on FTs) Yao had that we really don't have much basis to hope for from Tacko. That's the likely difference between Tacko's hope to be primarily a defensive, and likely situational, player and Yao being a great two-way player all around.

Tiny ball wrote: He ran Horford out of town playing him at center. He seemed to refuse to want to win anyway but his way. I think he just refused to use Baynes and Horford together last year but they nearly got us to the finals the year before with couple young pups.He abused Horford. He would not even give Williams development minutes. He could not get bigs in college and he not has a huge grudge against bigs.imho

Ya, but no. No.

I'm with Tiny Ball on this.

He abused Horford? Horford played 69 games a year. Horford flourished under Stevens. Whether he left because he was playing Center, who knows, I'd imagine it was a combo of yeah, playing next to Joel Embiid, playing for a potentially better team, and also getting more money.

Robert Williams was a raw, late first round rookie. How much do those guys play generally on teams that have championship aspirations?

Baynes was injured all of last year, and when he was healthy he played 20% of his minutes (163 out of 821) with Horford. Seems good to me, I don't want two bigs on the court unless against specific matchups, or if you have two elite bigs. And Baynes wasn't elite, played a nice role as a stout defender, though.

You're right, he really failed to get bigs at Butler. Probably why was he was successful because bigs are useless in college. He failed to get anyone besides Hayward and Shelvin Mack into the NBA even. Terrible coach.

Manocad wrote:I have an engineering degree, an exceptionally high IQ, and can point to the exact location/area of any country on an unlabeled globe.

He abused Horford? Horford played 69 games a year. Horford flourished under Stevens. Whether he left because he was playing Center, who knows, I'd imagine it was a combo of yeah, playing next to Joel Embiid, playing for a potentially better team, and also getting more money.

Robert Williams was a raw, late first round rookie. How much do those guys play generally on teams that have championship aspirations?

Baynes was injured all of last year, and when he was healthy he played 20% of his minutes (163 out of 821) with Horford. Seems good to me, I don't want two bigs on the court unless against specific matchups, or if you have two elite bigs. And Baynes wasn't elite, played a nice role as a stout defender, though.

You're right, he really failed to get bigs at Butler. Probably why was he was successful because bigs are useless in college. He failed to get anyone besides Hayward and Shelvin Mack into the NBA even. Terrible coach.

Terrible coach? Come on. He was acknowledged to be one of the best coaches at the college level, taking a small program deep into the NCAA tournament. His W-L record with the Celtics over the past four years is 205-123 (a W-L % of .625). That is a very respectable percentage, and not an indicator of a terrible coach. His peers and NBA players all acknowledge that he is a leading coach in the league.

He abused Horford? Horford played 69 games a year. Horford flourished under Stevens. Whether he left because he was playing Center, who knows, I'd imagine it was a combo of yeah, playing next to Joel Embiid, playing for a potentially better team, and also getting more money.

Robert Williams was a raw, late first round rookie. How much do those guys play generally on teams that have championship aspirations?

Baynes was injured all of last year, and when he was healthy he played 20% of his minutes (163 out of 821) with Horford. Seems good to me, I don't want two bigs on the court unless against specific matchups, or if you have two elite bigs. And Baynes wasn't elite, played a nice role as a stout defender, though.

You're right, he really failed to get bigs at Butler. Probably why was he was successful because bigs are useless in college. He failed to get anyone besides Hayward and Shelvin Mack into the NBA even. Terrible coach.

Terrible coach? Come on. He was acknowledged to be one of the best coaches at the college level, taking a small program deep into the NCAA tournament. His W-L record with the Celtics over the past four years is 205-123 (a W-L % of .625). That is a very respectable percentage, and not an indicator of a terrible coach. His peers and NBA players all acknowledge that he is a leading coach in the league.

Bleeding Green wrote:He abused Horford? Horford played 69 games a year. Horford flourished under Stevens. Whether he left because he was playing Center, who knows, I'd imagine it was a combo of yeah, playing next to Joel Embiid, playing for a potentially better team, and also getting more money.

Robert Williams was a raw, late first round rookie. How much do those guys play generally on teams that have championship aspirations?

Baynes was injured all of last year, and when he was healthy he played 20% of his minutes (163 out of 821) with Horford. Seems good to me, I don't want two bigs on the court unless against specific matchups, or if you have two elite bigs. And Baynes wasn't elite, played a nice role as a stout defender, though.

You're right, he really failed to get bigs at Butler. Probably why was he was successful because bigs are useless in college. He failed to get anyone besides Hayward and Shelvin Mack into the NBA even. Terrible coach.

Terrible coach? Come on. He was acknowledged to be one of the best coaches at the college level, taking a small program deep into the NCAA tournament. His W-L record with the Celtics over the past four years is 205-123 (a W-L % of .625). That is a very respectable percentage, and not an indicator of a terrible coach. His peers and NBA players all acknowledge that he is a leading coach in the league.

He abused Horford? Horford played 69 games a year. Horford flourished under Stevens. Whether he left because he was playing Center, who knows, I'd imagine it was a combo of yeah, playing next to Joel Embiid, playing for a potentially better team, and also getting more money.

Robert Williams was a raw, late first round rookie. How much do those guys play generally on teams that have championship aspirations?

Baynes was injured all of last year, and when he was healthy he played 20% of his minutes (163 out of 821) with Horford. Seems good to me, I don't want two bigs on the court unless against specific matchups, or if you have two elite bigs. And Baynes wasn't elite, played a nice role as a stout defender, though.

You're right, he really failed to get bigs at Butler. Probably why was he was successful because bigs are useless in college. He failed to get anyone besides Hayward and Shelvin Mack into the NBA even. Terrible coach.

Horford did not want to play center. The Celtics played their best basketball then Baynes and Horford were on the floor even if was with three young pups.